Abstract
We prove a neat factorization property of Feynman graphs in covariant perturbation theory. The contribution of the graph to the effective action is written as an integral over Schwinger parameters whose integrand is a product of a massless scalar momentum integral that only depends on the basic graph topology, and a background-field dependent piece that contains all the information of spin, gauge representations, masses etc. We give a closed expression for the momentum integral in terms of four graph polynomials whose properties we derive in some detail. Our results can also be useful for standard (non-covariant) perturbation theory.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Kevin Santos and Sylvain Fichet for discussions. I acknowledge financial support by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) under fellowship number 309448/2020-4.
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von Gersdorff, G. Factorization of covariant Feynman graphs for the effective action. J. High Energ. Phys. 2023, 77 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP12(2023)077
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP12(2023)077